I usa the vl-a8 as a pair of studio monitors for my personal project studio. I bought them because of a great sale price, but soon realized I made a good sonic decesion also. The realism and integrity of the sound far exceeded the JBLs and Alesis monitors I already owned. They are much more articulate in every aspect of the audio spectrum than my other monitors. Not nearly as smooth sounding as the Alesis I find the tascams due to their realism more taxing on the ears and fatiging to listen to after a few hours. They might not be your best choice for an evening of casual listening. As far as realism and making critical volume eq and balance decisions in a recording situation they are hard to beat though. They have controls on the rear for high mid and low frequency adjustment that allow you to tailor them for your listening enviroment. For me they were a great choice for making audio adjustments on recorded material because if it sounds good on the vl's then it invariably sounds good or great on other systems. My room is adequately treated, bass traps etc but with the rear panel dip switches you can probably acheive good results in any room. If you find these at a good price I highly recomend them.